GARMIN 010-00621-31 Nuvi 260 Travel Assistant Reviews

• Great. It's just what you need in a portable GPS unit. No useless features.

  
  By A10X4PYY8XSIZ6 on 2007-09-07
  The Nuvi 260 is a Nuvi 250 with the addition of text-to-speech (speaks actual names). Other than the text-to-speech (TTS) feature, the units are identical in appearance and operation.
  
  Why did I buy this?
  1)Many GPS models have features not needed for navigating (such as an MP3 player or Bluetooth). The 260 only has what I really think is necessary in a portable GPS. It's sleek (fits comfortably in your pocket), easily transportable, has preloaded maps with a tremendous database, and a fast processor which calculates and recalculates routes in seconds. Eliminating unnecessary features reduces the cost, plus makes it easier to use.
  
  2)The touchscreen interface in the Nuvi 260 is so intuitive, many people can skip the short instruction book altogether. Ten minutes of just "playing around with the unit" after taking it out of the box is all you will need to be navigating. That's the mark of a great design.
  
  3)Unlike the flip-up antenna found in Garmin's 300 series, the 200 series has an internal antenna...a big plus. (One less thing to break.) In addition, the screen in the 200 series units is significantly brighter and sharper than Garmin's older 300 series.
  
  4)Speaking street names is a tremendous asset. Units that don't have TTS only say "In 500 feet exit right". That forces you to glance at the screen to see what street/exit/etc you need to navigate to. A unit with TTS says " In 500 feet take exit 52, on right, to Route 80 West". You keep your eyes on the road with this feature. So besides the convenience, TTS is a safety feature that is worth the extra dollars.
  
  What do I dislike about the Nuvi 260?
  1)I am not a fan of the windshield suction mount. In many reviews people have said that the mount is not reliable in the long term. It randomly falls off (this happened to me a few times). On a hot day the suction cup can soften and is reluctant to come off at all, or it leaves a telltale ring on the windshield. That's not good. (As an aside, there has been a significant increase in the thefts of portable GPS devices from cars...even when the devices were not in plain view. Police have stated that thieves assumed there was a GPS unit hidden in the car if a residual ring from the suction cup was seen on the windshield.) Save yourself from the inevitable and buy the beanbag dash mount.
  2) The information in the database and maps can be a few years old. This problem is seen in ALL brands of GPS units, not just Garmin. There are millions of points of interest and roads to keep track of. It changes by the day. By the time the final product makes it to market, some of it is already outdated. But, for over 99% of the time, it is correct and it finds what I looking for. Until the manufacturers figure out a way to update their databases and maps in real time, this is what we have.
  
  Once you think about what the really important features are in a portable GPS unit, you will realize that the Garmin Nuvi 260 is a wise choice.
  
  

• Nice little unit, but ... but ... but.

  
  By A17D77DFID0GZG on 2008-01-09
  Note: For people who are looking to buy the Nüvi 260, Garmin is releasing the 260W (wide-screen version) early this quarter (identical except for screen size).
  
  Like many, I've done a bit of research, only to find I'm just as confused as ever, so I decided to go basic. This is my third GPS (two I bought as gifts, and finally, and just recently, one for myself), and all were Garmin units. Why? Ignorance and word-of-mouth, but Garmin units do have an easy interface, and the company has pretty good customer support and a solid reputation. So I must be a happy camper, right? Not really. I ended up liking the features on the Magellan units quite a bit better (here is a partial list):
  
  1. QuickSpell (darkens/disables unneeded keys as you type -- a real time saver).
  2. Automatic maneuver list (pops on screen when satellite signal is lost).
  3. AAA guide book (roadside assistance for AAA members) -- a great feature exclusive to Magellan.
  4. Road exclusion/avoidance (so basic, I'm surprised Garmin refuses to adopt it (or put it back in). They had this in some older models, no?
  5. Exit POI (very handy, it can show services for each upcoming highway exit).
  6. Multiple-routing capability (self-explanatory).
  7. A detour function whose mileage is user-specified to limit the length of detour.
  
  Unfortunately, Magellan's customer support is (and I quote from GPS magazine): "Horrible, atrocious customer support." Atrocious? Wow. But atrocious support or not, the 260 does not have those features. And there are a few other items I question:
  
  1. No physical volume control like on the c300 series (yes, most are going the software route, that doesn't make it better), and it has a "tinny" sounding speaker, but certainly loud enough -- cost cutting (you'll quickly see a pattern here).
  2. ABC keyboard (tedious, but perhaps qwerty wouldn't fit well on this screen -- too bad Garmin can't come up with a "QuickSpell" equivalent.
  3. No AC power adapter -- cost cutting.
  4. No USB cable -- cost cutting.
  5. No carrying case ... talk about cheap -- cost cutting.
  6. This is a manual? Go to gpsmagazine.com if you really want to see how this thing works -- read their comprehensive, but too pro-Garmin reviews.
  7. Removed the ability to plug power into the mount (a big Garmin plus suddenly gone!) -- cost cutting (I'm pretty angry about this one -- see #8).
  8. Power plugs into the back on the left (driver's side) of the Nüvi. Awkward (unless you live in England) and makes it more difficult to hide or route the cable.
  9. Removed the ability to add an external antenna -- not good! -- cost cutting.
  10. Draconian update policies (and updates may be of marginal value) -- price gouging at its finest. If you buy a Garmin today and they release an update tomorrow, you pay full price. More than one Garmin unit? You pay full price for each one you own -- no discount -- and thank you for shopping Garmin...
  11. No multiple-routing capability and only one "via" point -- very limiting.
  12. Weak detour function - can't input miles around detour -- limiting.
  13. No road exclusion -- very basic and critical feature ridiculously MIA. Not even Garmin's top unit gives you this, while everyone else does. Hard to believe.
  14. Scrolling through the POI can get tedious (listed nearest POI first, which makes sense, but I also wish you could search alphabetically with a keystroke).
  15. Box came shipped with the Nüvi rattling around inside and not secured. I've heard this same story many times, so it didn't surprise me. Luckily, my Nüvi was undamaged, but it's an example of more ridiculous cost-cutting by Garmin. They can't even spend the money necessary to package their products properly.
  16. It's difficult to make a proper decision when you don't know what receiving technology the 200 series is using. Is it SiRF Star III, Bravo or MediaTek (MTK)? All Garmin says is "high-sensitivity receiver". Why the mystery? After much digging, I found that my unit came with MTK (what's in your wallet ... er ... Nüvi? -- it could be any one of the three).
  17. A minor nit is that this unit doesn't allow you to get any satellite information detail (other than signal strength). Garmin took that ability away on the 260.
  
  With all that said, I "am" reviewing a Garmin unit. That means I bought the Nüvi 260 over the others, even when I knew many (but not all) of the negatives going in. And there are things I actually do like about my Nüvi (in case you were wondering):
  
  1. Supports Macs (barely -- must have OS 10.4 or higher).
  2. Has a nice, rich display, good map layout, fairly bright (although it washes out quickly when tipping it up or down, but good viewing side to side), and a very nice, well-implemented night (dimming) feature on ALL menus (most manufacturers dim their units only at the map level). But it's time-implemented and not light-sensitive.
  3. Ease of use -- a Garmin trademark. Logical, simple, easy to setup and execute (but really not all that much better than Magellan -- they are very similar in this aspect). If you want a lot of customization, you need a more expensive unit, or go to TomTom (amazing amount of customization, but obviously adds complexity). Because the 260 doesn't really give you a lot of adjustment choices, one can go through all the options and know everything about this unit in record time.
  4. Generally good routing, but not the best according to GPS magazine -- the LG790 from ... who else? ... LG, is said to be superior to all they have tested.
  5. Better customer support than the top two competitors (that may not be saying much -- Magellan's support is "atrocious" and TomTom's is very suspect). Still, Garmin is highly rated by many.
  6. Want to stop a route? The stop function appears on the main map while driving to your destination (along with a detour function). Doesn't sound like much, and it isn't, but hey, it's right at your finger tips (you have to dig a bit on other units).
  7. While Garmin changed chips from the highly regarded SiRF mid-stream to Bravo and MTK, this is not necessarily a bad thing. My unit picks up the satellite signals quickly and stays locked quite well. If you hear opposing statements, that could mean the chip they have is different from mine.
  8. The TTS function, while it does butcher some names, is considered one of the better TTS programs in the industry (less mechanical sounding and more natural). This is one of the big reasons I opted for the 260 and I think "Jill" sounds fine (but I may think differently over time).
  9. Tapping the car icon gives you your current location (which can be saved in your favorites folder). Not as complete as the 700 series, "Where am I? / Where did I park?" function, but it's still a nice feature to have.
  
  There are a couple of features I wish the 260 had (not including those I already mentioned):
  
  1. TomTom's Mapshare or something similar. It allows users to correct data on maps and POIs that others can download, and is a step in the right direction (but has a ways to go).
  2. The ability to edit points of interest -- does anyone do this successfully (and easily), or is this just a pipe dream? Thank goodness we can save to favorites.
  
  Simply put, there is no such animal as a "best" GPS receiver. They all are full of compromises, especially within Garmin's own ever-growing family. Even with all my moaning and groaning, I actually consider the Nüvi 260 to be a nice little unit (the sum being greater than its parts), and it's particularly nice for the first-time buyer. If it wasn't, I probably would have closed my eyes, said a prayer, and bought the Magellan. While it doesn't have the bells and whistles, the 260 does what it is suppose to do and does it very well. No muss. No fuss. At least most of the time.
  
  So how do I rate it? Between 1 and 10, I give the Nüvi 260 a very marginal 6 (or barely a 3-star rating ... meaning just above average). Had Garmin not cheapened their mount on this series (nice mount, just not a powered one), not gone on a greedy cost-cutting frenzy (no external antenna capability leaves the consumer vulnerable), and if they had added just a couple of important (and basic) features and left out the "fluff", I would have gladly given the 260 a solid 8 (or a 4-star rating). But until Garmin changes their terrible update policies, I don't think I could ever give any Garmin product a 5-star rating. Greed doesn't deserve a star added to it, no matter how good their customer support (or their products) may be.
  
  Sorry for the length, but if you're still here, I've got something to say about mounting hardware that may interest you. Everyone knows that windshield mounts are illegal in California and Minnesota, and most use a dash mount (usually a bean-bag type -- Semsons has a nice one) or a mount from ProClip (custom to each car and each GPS -- it's nice, but can cost over $60). Well, I found another (thanks to someone at GPS Passion). Handstands makes a small, flat jelly pad that actually works well (I was highly skeptical). It wasn't created (or promoted) as a mounting surface for a GPS. It was created to keep items on your dash without them being flung about (glasses, ipods, cell phones, etc.). Just clean your dash, place the pad where you want it (it grips your dash and won't slide), dampen the suction cup, push the mount onto the pad, flip the lever, and you're set to go. A totally unobtrusive and very inexpensive ($4-$7) alternative, and easy to remove (leaves no residue). For those interested, I bought mine here on Amazon.
  
  

• This is a light and excellent unit for GPS

  
  By A2EM4GF2BQLTM0 on 2007-11-21
  I would say there is no perfect GPS unit in the market, but this definitely is one of the best.
  
  If you were a nuvi owner like me, a previous owner of a nuvi 350 GPS, you will know that nuvi is very easy to operate. You do not need any thick manual to study how to use the unit, just get it out the box, turn it on, and play it around, then you are ready to go. This is a nuvi, so, yes, it is easy to use. As a trade off, some advanced routing functions are not included in this unit, for example, you can not add many via points to one route.
  
  Basically, Nuvi 260 is a Nuvi 250 with Text to Speech, so even you can not find many reviews for Nuvi 260, actually you can just search those for Nuvi 200 or 250. Nuvi 260 is also a nuvi 350 after some weight loss which means some functions such as MP3 player will miss in this unit. The box comes with the unit contains less accessories than the one for 350 too. You will not have USB cable,leather case, and AC charger. However, in other hand, the 260 has more improvement. What I like most is the screen brightness which is really fantastic compared to the nuvi350. It is highly readable even directly under the sun light. The view angle of this screen is also much wider than that of the 350. Both the driver and the front seat passenger can read the screen easily if you place the unit in the middle. While my experience with 350 is that you need adjust the unit to a right angle so that the reflection from the screen will not bother the driver from reading the screen. Another sweet part is the internal antenna which makes the unit more sleek than the 350.
  
  The mount is still easy to assemble, easy to adjust, compact. Unfortunately Garmin changed the mount slightly from the design of 350.For the nuvi 350 the power cord connects to the mount and then the mount feeds power to the Nuvi, but in the 260, the power cord connects directly to the device. So in order to disassemble your 260, you need disconnect both the power cable and the mount which is not as convenient as the case for 350.
  
  My unit has a Bravo sensor instead of the SIRF III sensor in 350. Both are boasted as the high sensitivity sensor. After testing it for several trips and in my home. I found that the Bravo has better signal receipt ability than the SIRF III. I can easily get full bars signal before my computer desk with Bravo, but with 350, I can only receive signal near to the window. Somehow I feel that the SIRF III has better accuracy although the difference is subtle. Like I said, no GPS is perfect, so neither does the sensor.
  
  Overall, I like the 260 very much. Garmin has the best navigation engine and algorithm in the industry, so you do not need doubt its navigation performance at all. Furthermore, this is the cheapest Garmin nuvi with text to speech. If you like Text to speech and do not need other fancy functions like bluetooth, mp3 etc, this one is definitely the best choice for you. Otherwise, if you do not care the text to speech function, you may consider nuvi 250 or nuvi 200(no Canada map) which are cheaper.
  
  Updated(Dec. 8,2007)
  For those who do not like the window mount, I strongly suggest you check out this friction mount:
  http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-Friction-StreetPilot-010-10908-00/dp/B000LRMS66
  I purchased it with my nuvi 260 and it works great!
  
  

• Can't Go Wrong WIth This Unit.

  
  By A3EETR6Z73XQXE on 2007-09-18
  Never thought I'd buy I GPS unit but what the heck, the prices are dropping and I'm a gadget geek.
  
  So I get this unit, hook it up, and all is good!
  
  The voice is a bit robotic but that's what I expected and I suspect other GPS units are the same. Certain words/letters (street names) are not clearly annunciated given the limit of the robot voice but it's good enough. If a certain street name is not spoken clearly and you're not sure what it just spoke all you need to do is take a quick glance at the green bar at the top of the screen and it's all spelled out for you...not a problem at all.
  
  I love this thing!
  
  
  

• Awesome.

  
  By A2MXRS7MXVUX93 on 2007-09-20
  It's tiny, works great and is a decent price compared to the rest of the GPS units out there. It's my first GPS and I'm using it with a Mac - very impressed! And, Garmin finally has a web updater that works on Mac OS X - now I just need to get some extras for it! My only complaint with Garmin is their website, it seems quite confusing and not user-friendly. Not to mention they have about 40 models of GPS that are difficult to distinguish. Rant aside, this unit is wonderful and has a great new design without any flip up antenna. Recommended!
  
  
• good but a few annoying problems
  By A38PF5I55NJGTA on 2007-12-08
  I got this unit just a few days ago. I like it, but I must admit I was expecting more. My biggest disapointment is about the startup and fix time and then how unbelievably slow the POI database search can sometimes be plus 3-4 out of 10 places are not found. Example: in Houston, there are a few Fry's but after a few mins it found some 300 miles away from me but none close to where I was when there is one just about 5 miles away. Great ! Well, I can live with it if I know the address but...
  I also don't like the fact I have to always enter the city name etc., would be much better if the values were retained or if it worked the same way like for the state screen where there is a button with the state you selected last time. As for navigation it seems to give good routing results, when turns are missed it recalcs quickly and so far after a few days of tests I have always arrived where I wanted.
  Overall a nice unit but needs improvements.
  
  Pros:
  - very sleek and pocketable
  - text to speech (pronounces street names)
  - good routing results
  - quick recalculations
  - nice graphics
  - good reception even indoor
  
  Small cons:
  - when resuming driving after a stop the unit is confused for a while where you are actually headed
  - some streets are missing
  - POI database is incomplete
  - must enter city every time when searching for an address, should be pre-selected (or should remember all previous values)
  - speaker seems weak and distorted
  
  Big cons:
  - Start up time is 20+ secs to get to the "I agree" screen + some additional time to actually be ready to drive
  - Satelite fix can sometimes be slow - 30 secs, even minutes
  - Searching for POIs is painfully slow (minutes)
  
  
  
• Great Unit! Accurate !
  By A258F4WEDY57GU on 2007-11-19
  Nothing bad to say about this baby. Gets you from Point A to Point B with TTS (Text To Speech - Talks Street Names) Great signal range, with fast recalculating when you make a wrong turn. Slim profile. Great battery life (5 hours plus) Only minor complaint is that Garmin doesn't include an AC adapter or USB cable for PC connectivity. Even though the unit can be purchsed for under $300 these acceserries will set uou back another $40.
  
  
• Best GPS for the price!
  By A3G4G29XGWXXY3 on 2007-11-23
  I'll keep this short and sweet. Since I've had it, It's led me perfectly wherever I planned out, fit easily in my pocket (smallest car GPS?), and looks great, aesthetically. It has a charcoal body, not silver, and the screen is among the brightest out there (unlike the Nuvi 350). There isn't an mp3 player (who cares?) but you can still use an SD card for the jpg viewer. Grab the update online which increases the draw speed on the maps. What adds to the fun of this unit is that you can also download custom vehicle icons from garmin.com AND download various other voices for the Text-To-Speech. It comes with American English "Jill" but you can download both male and female voices for American, British, and Australian English. I have a Santa Sleigh with (a slightly robotic) Lara Croft telling me where to go. I love this GPS!
  
  
• Can't believe we lived without it!
  By AWR9S1Q2KFM7H on 2007-11-20
  Great product! Almost like having an angel on your shoulder when you're driving in unfamiliar territory! Not only gets you where you're going, but can help find anything you might need. Needed a drugstore when traveling out of town recently, plugged in "CVS" - and it directed us to a store just a mile from our hotel. Even my husband -- who isn't a gadget fan -- is impressed! One piece of advice ... the British voice doesn't announce street names -- just says "Turn left, right, etc." ... so for that feature, use the American voice. That's not clear in the "minimalist" literature!
  
  
• Good, but some quirks
  By A1WE8VXJA5DHZI on 2007-12-27
  I used this GPS last weekend and just seeing what it would do. I was looking for a Walgreens and typed in Walgreen, so it didn't find it. Then, tried another major chain and it didn't find that one either. You apparently have to be very specific in your searches for POI's.
  
  Where I was ready to throw it out the window was on a trip last weekend, and the address was so new that it isn't on the maps yet. So, I programmed in city to city, and it directed me onto one lane county roads out in the middle of the wilderness and created a very frightening 60 min. detour off the main roads, which I didn't want. It failed to recognize where I was, and I had to turn the unit completely off twice for it to recognize where I was, then I had to reroute to a different city for it to guide me out of the horrible dirt wilderness where there was no sign of life or civilization. Horrible experience.
  
  
• Don' t over spend on a GPS. This one is all you'll need.
  By A1TUUSQODOPXOE on 2008-01-04
  Two years ago, I had to purchase a GPS because of some extensive traveling I'd be doing in the Los Angeles region. Since I don't know the area and am basically directionally challenged (I get lost), a GPS was the way to go. I initially picked up a Magellan unit because all my friends had one and I have regretted this move ever since. The Magellan was hard to use, maps were inaccurate, and it was often incorrect in giving instructions.
  
  Enter the Nuvi 260. It's amazing what you get in this GPS. What would have cost easily $800 and up only a couple of years ago is now available at under $300. The Nuvi is a breeze to use and the text-to-voice feature is really cool. Instead of the "right turn in 2.1 miles" sort of thing, it actually speaks the upcoming freeway exits/streets out loud. It also has a truck load of points of interest in the little box and you can pre-plan your trip by selecting which places you want to go before hand and enter them as your favorites.
  
  Its got a nice lock out feature that you can use by entering a four number code. The device automatically unlocks if you set an "unlock" location. Go to this point, and it unlocks for you in case you forget your code. This is also a nice feature to protect your data and your home location if the unit ever gets lost or stolen.
  
  The GPS is pretty bright in the daytime but washes out, just like other GPS units, in direct sunlight. It's got an automatic night time feature in which the LCD display switches over to a different color scheme and brightness level to accommodate for night driving. Added to this, you can load photos as start up screens and swap out the little car icon on your map for other downloadable ones. I picked the moose for mine.
  
  The LCD map screen can be seen in 3D or 2D mode and is easy to navigate around. The display gives you various info such as time traveled, average speed, time to arrival and a host of other features at just the touch of the screen.
  
  The unit is portable, which means you can disconnect it from the car AC adapter and carry it around with you for walking around town. I was going to buy the AC wall adapter to charge the unit up when it wasn't in the car, but what they don't tell you is that you can just charge up the Nuvi via a USB cable. Just plug it into your computer while you're working, and your Nuvi will be fully charged in a few hours. You'll save yourself the $20 or so in buying that AC wall charger.
  
  The big negative of this unit, which doesn't even have anything really to do with the GPS device, is the horrible manual and Garmin website. If you're not computer savvy or don't understand electronic device very well, you'll miss out on a lot of what this GPS can do for you. If it weren't for the laughably poor Garmin website and the very sparse manual, the Nuvi 260 would have gotten a five star rating.
  
  But seeing that not everyone is computer knowledgeable, Garmin has done a great disservice to its customers by not providing adequate instructions on their units and a website that barely passes in being helpful.
  
  
• A real stress reliever
  By A33G2V3MN59LQX on 2008-01-26
  I purchased this GPS to replace the less-than-stellar offerings I've had on my Palm. One motivating factor for purchasing it at this time was a planned trip to Pittsburgh, PA, which has some of the most confusing roads of anywhere I've been. I decided to delay my review until I had a chance to try it out in Pittsburgh.
  
  The unit has been excellent! More than once it got us back to where we needed to go when we took a wrong turn (or no turn when we should have). It seems that every time I thought "I wish it would do" something, I found out that it did. The text-to-speech is also very intelligible. However, one of the biggest pluses is that my wife, who normally has problems with all but the simplest user interfaces, had no problems interacting with it while I was driving. We were both also very pleased with the speed at which it computed routes.
  
  I have no qualms about giving this product 5 stars, something I don't do unless a product is nearly perfect. Great job, Garmin!
  
  Update: After I originally posted my review, we were leaving Pittsburgh and at one point the GPS attempted to direct us the wrong way down a one-way street. Upon further investigation, I determined that this was not an issue with the Nuvi per se but with the NAVTEQ database; Google Maps also uses NAVTEQ as its data source and attempted the same wrong-way routing. I have reported the discrepancy to NAVTEQ.
  
  Also, while traveling back home, I managed to lose part of the car mount I took along, a combination of the cradle from the included suction mount and the arm from the optional friction mount. Those parts are not normally available separately, but Garmin stepped up to the plate when I contacted them, shipping me a new suction mount and dash mount (which uses the same rotating arm the friction mount uses) free of charge.
  
  
• Incompatible with 08 toyota highlander and camry
  By A3GSJ42QAVRA0K on 2008-03-18
  The nuvi 200 and the nuvi 260 are not compatible with our 2008 Toyota Highlander Limited or the 2008 Camry. Garmin knows this but does not appear to have posted it on their website or anything like that. I called customer service today (my second call) and the customer service rep acknowledged the problem to me. According to Garmin (and some theorists on the internet) it is something in the windshield. I confirmed the incompatibility today with my Toyota dealer and have reported the problem to Toyota. The Highlander fried the nuvi 200, killed it dead. The 260 doesn't seem to have sustained much damage, but it won't work in the Highlander. Garmin knows this and they should tell people.
  
  
• Get one already!
  By A3Q1WW2IOCO38Y on 2007-12-09
  Ok, it is not perfect- nothing is; still, I'd easily pay twice having had this lovely device now. And you have heard it before- PAY for the text-to-speech - worth every penny, without this feature you are purchasing an obsolete item- absolutely do not underestimate this statement(please)! I placed mine in the center well... I look down when stopped although even this is now completely unnecessary, now no need to distract the driver while driving. Street name given nicely, clearly and on time. High quality feel, and more than adequate everything period. Minor (valid) issues are deftly stated elsewhere, yet this still is a MUST have item in modern life (and yes I thought I was to cool to need help too)- saved hours, gas, mental anguish- already and on every turn. Every year they re-evolve, just buy one now and you will be enjoying the ride! First day in SF made believers out of the entire car full of backseat driving loved ones - all nay-sayers zipped it. Better than family therapy!
  
  
• Great navigational tool.
  By AJ70BOCFZKHTA on 2007-12-18
  If all you are looking for is a navigational tool, this is your unit. For me, this unit delivered everything I needed. I already had an I-Pod, a PDA, and all of the other handy dandy gadgets out there. I did not need a GPS unit to blue tooth, do books on tape, or any of the other non-essential options with the more expensive units. As far as the navigation goes, it delivers. I have even tested the ETA's, distance, speed, etc.. when bored with kids on long journeys and this unit is pretty precise. It is definitely worth the money, I totally recommend it.
  
  
• A map problem eroded my trust in it.
  By A18D285A2EQRNB on 2007-12-31
  I've had my Nuvi 260 for a month now. The unit is small, good-looking, very easy to set up, came with the latest version of their maps but... if I followed its direction I'd never get out of my neighborhood.
  
  Driving from my home on GA SRXX I need to turn right on Hwy YYY. My nuvi260 tells me to first turn left on ZZZ Rd. about 200 ft from the Hwy, and then make a right U-turn on HwyYYY. The problem is that ZZZ Rd. DEAD ENDS in bushes and there is no way to get to the Hwy from there. This problem makes me wonder where else my nuvi will send me to when I'm in a location I do not know.
  
  Garmin's customer support was very apologetic about this snafu and directed me to the web site where you can report such map deficiencies. But that was it, no patches offered. I guess I'll have to wait until they have a new version released and pay another $70 to get it.
  
  Aside from this one dead-end trap (that I've discovered), my nuvi260 has been giving me generally good directions in my everyday driving within ~100 miles from my home. I'm yet to test it on an out-of state trip.
  
  Overall, I like having a "live" map in front of me with my location clearly marked, particularly when driving at night in a city. The voice prompts about upcoming turns, often with "funny" pronunciations of street names, are very useful in locations you do not know, and they can be muted if you find them distracting. The display of the distance to the next turn is particularly useful for me and saved me several times already from making turns too soon. For the price Nuvis can now be purchased for(~$260), it is a good driving aid to have in your car. But do not trust it completely...!!
  
  
  
• Great Product out of the box.
  By A1EAK5Y9I997TR on 2007-12-16
  This GPS is easy to use out of the box. Just plut it in to the charging cord and you can plot your first course. The spoken street names function is wonderful, particularly at intersections with multiple streets converging or on interstates with several exits very close in proximity. The first night I used it I was faced with a major accident that closed the interstate and it rerouted me several times and did so accurately. The screen can be seen clearly, even in bright and glaring light.
  
  
• Happy Garmin Customer
  By A3O8SY6UC7CNDF on 2008-05-12
  Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1YV7QXTKOC9S6 We purchased this for our daughter who is a bit navigationally challenged. It's very simple to use right out of the box. The voice feature is important so as to be able to keep your eyes on the road rather than on the unit.
  
  
• A four-plus with caveats
  By AY91MQZZR750W on 2007-12-15
  First - Love my Nuvi. We have traveled everywhere with it and we now travel with confidence. The speech-to-text is essential, in my opinion, and the Nuvi does it well. Don't know how we got along without it.
  Second - the caveat(s). Maps are slightly out of date in places as are the points of interest (which is a real bummer). The Nuvi takes awhile to link up. We loved it so much we bought a second one for our other car, though, and it crashed from the very beginning. Sent it back to Garmin and they sent a refurbished one that was worse than the first. Just got back another one today so we'll see how it goes. BUT - the service support at Garmin is very good. Nice, helpful people. Which is probably why - of all the GPS choices out there - I just bought a third Nuvi for my parents. It's good and it works (mostly).
  
  
• I Love My Garmen GPS
  By A3QIW1NJS25I9A on 2007-12-17
  I have always been known as the one who can get lost in my own neighborhood. My family bought me this GPS for my birthday in November, and I have probably saved gallons of gas and hours of driving time by having Jill (my daughter named it that) direct me.
  One day I needed to find a gas station quickly in an area I didn't know, and entered find fuel, and it immediately led me to the closest station.
  It has shown me shorter ways to get to places I go frequently, and when I do something different than what it originally tells me to do it doesn't tell me how dumb I was!
  It is easy to use. I had to call to find out how to get it to tell me the street names, but it was just how I had the language set. It's a great unit for most anyone, who doesn't need bluetooth or MP3 capibilities.
  
  
• THIS GPS IS AMAZING!
  By A1BHVE3KLJ3SFV on 2007-12-22
  I WAS VERY HESITANT IN BUYING A GPS.. I READ MANY REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT HAPPY WITH THEIR GPS... . ONE BRAND IN PARTICULAR (WHICH SOUNDS LIKE A PERSON'S NAME) HAD MANY BAD REVIEWS. I DEFINITELY DIDNT WANT TO BUY THAT BRAND.....
  AFTER WEEKS OF COMPARING , I DECIDED ON BUYING THE GARMIN NUVI 260...
  I HAD IT FOR over A WEEK NOW AND I LOVE IT...
  I M REALLY GLAD I BOUGHT THE GARMIN NUVI 260...
  FOR A FIRST TIME GPS USER.. I THINK THIS ONE IS AMAZING .. ..
  IT IS SO EASY TO USE.. EVEN WITHOUT READING THE MANUAL.....THE SCREEN IS SO READABLE EVEN IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT...
  OK... SO IT DOESNT HAVE A MP3 - BIG DEAL... I HAVE AN IPOD ALREADY.. THAT CONNECTS TO MY CAR STEREO ANYWAY...
  THANKS GARMIN FOR MAKING A GREAT GPS.. I WILL HAVE THIS ONE FOR YEARS
  OH BY THE WAY...I AM NOT FROM GARMIN.. :-) I AM JUST A SATISFIED CUSTOMER....!
  
  
  
  
• Very Pleased
  By AYZL6NIFS3BQA on 2007-12-07
  I purchased the Garmin nuvi 260 as a gift for my wife. She and I are very pleased with the unit. It's intuitive and easy to use. The only negative is that I could not get the device installed on the dash board of the car. The "sticky" base would not stick. I had to install it on the window which I find a little more distracting while driving.
  
  
• Love my GARMIN NUVI 260 !!!
  By A2TZB3Q07BH2WD on 2007-12-18
  I just recently purchased my GARMIN NUVI 260 GPS system and I love it!!
  
  I have never owned a GPS system before, and never even had any intentions of buying one. I am not really a "gadget" type of person. I am pretty darn novice when it comes to all the technological devices etc. But, I read a litte about GPS systems, saw that they are now affordable, played with them in the store, and bought one. Now, I LOVE IT!!
  
  The GARMIN NUVI 260 is so easy to use, right out of the box!! I just charged it using my car and the included cord, and I was ready to go!!
  
  I love the TEXT to VOICE feature, as you don't even have to look at the unit when you are driving. You just listen to the voice and it will take you right to where you are going!!
  
  The bottomline is, if I can figure ot how to use t, anyone can!!
  
  I purchased mine from AMERICAN ELECTRONICS in Oak Creek, WI. I worked on the purchase with Matt S., who is the manager of the Electronics Department there. Not only was the price excellent at AMERICAN, they were one of the only places in town that had actual stock on the product!!
  
  Get a GARMIN NUVI 260 and you won't be sorry. Buy it AMERICAN ELECTRONICS in Oak Creek, WI and tell them that Brian sent you. You won't be sorry!!
  
  
• Lack of Options
  By ACNVK6PNUPODP on 2008-01-07
  I received this unit just before Christmas with much positive anticipation. While the 260 generally performs and has features as advertised I am disappointed in a couple of things. First, there are not enough options for choosing how the unit picks your route. Fastest or shortest?? Picking fastest (which I have it set on) does not guaranty it will choose a highway route. Shortest puts you on awful back roads. The avoidance choices do not seem to do much. Yesterday it took me via back roads directly to my destination but on the return to "Home" it chose a completely different route that had me in the middle of nowhere when the highway nearby or the reverse of my trip to the destination would have been 1/2 hour faster. Confounding!! Second, when you add in the cost of the equipment included in the Nuvi 350 the 260 isn't quite the bargain it originally appeared to be.
  
  
• Fix one problem and I would rate it 4 or 5 stars
  By A1A2B4MPF3FZYN on 2008-02-08
  I definitely prefer the Garmin to the Magellan 2000 that I had been using. The biggest problem I have with this product is that it won't allow me to enter some of the numeric street names. I live in the Milwaukee/Racine area where typical street names are 6 Mile Road, 4 Mile Road, and in some cases include 1/2 mile in the street name (e.g. 3 1/2 Mile Road). I can't enter a name such as this in my Garmin and it can be frustrating. Sometimes I am out and about when I discover that I need to locate a business using such an address so I have to get their phone number, then call the business location I am seeking to ask for directions, try to find a piece of paper to write the directions on. This can be exceedingly frustrating and time consuming for two reasons: 1) I own a GPS; 2) calling a business nowadays means you have to navigate your way through a damnable lengthy "push button" menus before you can actually talk with a living breathing person. Other than this problem, which would be minor to many, is a pretty BIG problem if you live in an area with such street names. Hopefully they will correct this design flaw in future models. If it weren't for this problem, I would rate the Garmin 4 or 5 stars.
  
  
• Wrong road names & poor directions
  By AHVUZ3JRIADWC on 2008-02-08
  Several times during three trips the unit has given the names of the roads to turn on wrong and or there were not even any roads where they said to turn. Eventually after recalculating several times it will get you where you need to go just not by the best route. The unit will have you get off an interstate and get on a service road or secondary road that will end up in the same intersection or exit as if you would have stayed on the main road. I wish there was a setting that you could only use main roads, the direction have taken me thru some very bad areas when if I had known I could have stayed on a better road in a better area and gotten to my destination just as fast, safer and without as much stress. Mine is for sale, I will try a different brand or model if I can find one with a different mapping system.
  
  
• Powerful, Portable GPS at a Price that's Perfect
  By A2KLWP94ZIVNIQ on 2008-05-05
  Received my 260 two weeks ago and this is one fine piece of equipment for your car (or walking around for that matter). I researched Consumer Reports online and every place I could think of to find a GPS unit that was just a GPS unit and had text-to-speech so I wouldn't have to look at the screen. The 260 is the closest I could come because it does have a photo album feature but at least it doesn't play music.
  On trips to unknown places my Saint of a Wife would get dreadfully nervous with my looking at the [...] printout while I was driving and eating a burger and cleaning up the cola I had just spilled on the carpet - all at the same time. I still don't understand what made her nervous, I've never had a wreck but she has.
  For the last two weeks since I received the 260 and ripped it outta the box and proceeded to throw the manual away (you really don't need it) I have put this device through its paces. I've deliberately tried to fool it by turning on the wrong street and within seconds it calculates a new route to the destination. I can't fool it so I suppose that would make the Garmin nuvi 260 Foolproof.
  I'm back at Amazon tonight to buy another one, it's that good.
  For those who might think they need to buy an AC charger, if you have a Motorola phone the AC charger cable on that will charge the unit and it already comes with a power adapter for the car. Many camera USB cables will work on it just fine to connect it to your computer.
  In short I would recommend this unit to anyone - especially anyone who doesn't want an MP3 player or a portable piano with their GPS unit.
  Go ahead - punch in those credit card numbers and move on with your life. You'll use much less Xanax with the Garmin nuvi 260.
  
  
• doesn't save 'favorites'
  By A2CEEMDWEMBM53 on 2007-12-23
  i really like having it, but it (1) doesn't save 'favorites'. when you give the location a 'name', it reverts to saving your 'HOME' location under that name. a software glitch; (2) wrong directions for my own house number, which made me not love this device right off the bat. I wish Garmin had a way to email them with fixes they need to make; And the price amazon has for it is way above mfr list, which is wierd.
  
  
• It works even for me.
  By A3912KLXEVHM1D on 2007-12-27
  This won't take long. I am not good at gadgets. I resent them mostly, and have horrible success.
  
  Here's my review. I received mine as a gift Christmas day. I flew to my home city, opened the thing and plugged it into my car in the airport parking lot and put in my home address. It talked me home. I'm still a little shocked.
  
  First gadget ever that worked for me right out of the box.
  
  UPDATE MARCH 2008: Still love this thing. I don't go anywhere new without it, and I go nearly everywhere because of it. It has made me fearless when it comes to accepting invitations or attending events. I can find my way anywhere. Love it.
  
  Best example was that I had a once in a lifetime chance to be an extra in a big budget film shooting in New York City. I live in Philadelphia. I put the address of our call location in and drove into the city. Yes, into NEW YORK CITY. My friends and I had no trouble, made no wrong turns, and had just as smooth a ride home. Wouldn't have considered going before I had this handy little thing.
  
  
• More Sweet Than Sour
  By A3PBH6ESGRNVMM on 2007-12-30
  On the sweet side, I have had the Nuvi about 3 weeks and find it quite amazing. I haven't had any issues getting signals even through thick cloud cover and rain. It is quite accurate as to location as you are moving and it's initial estimate of time of arrival at a location is uncanny. It will update the time of arrival enroute if you get hung up in traffic or delayed along the way.
  
  It is easy to use and the visuals are quite clear. I bought a cup holder stand rather than use the windshield device or a beanbag for the dash and it is working out well. The cup holder stand makes it easy to put the Nuvi away leaving no evidence of having a GPS in the vehicle.
  
  On the sour side, I find the device does not always take you the shortest route via side roads or known shortcuts, but directs you via major roads. If you do change your route along the way the device is quick to recalculate your new route. The voice broadcasting street names sometimes struggles with pronunciation, but that is a small irritation and can actually be a little humorous.
  
  Over all, I am very pleased with the device and look forward to continued use.
  
  

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